What happens when it's dark
by nekkis
Summary: My first story! Alice Brandon is working a night shift as a cleaning lady when suddenly police officer Jasper Whitlock pulls up in his car and asks about the woman who screamed. But Alice didn't scream and there is no one else in the abandoned preschool...what happens when they realise that the front door has locked itself? And what is making those noises coming from the attic?
1. Autumn rain

**Well...**

**Where do I even begin? I got the inspiration to this story a couple of hours (!) ago when I was walking my dog. So I just sat down and wrote.**

**I must warn you, this is the first time I'm posting and I don't know why I even posted it but it felt good. I suck at technical stuff so I will probably delete this whole thing by accident tomorrow... anyways,**

**this is my first try. Hopefully, you'll like it. Maybe you won't. OH god I hope you like it, please like it!**

She hated the job, but it wasn't like she was able to get another one. Running away from home, school and everything she once knew at the age of 16 was not exactly something you could write on your resume. So here she was, stuck in cleaning kindergartens and schools at ungodly times. Every week the same schedule, one place every day in a never-ending circle. Alice had understood a long time ago that all those great plans she once had would never come true, especially after the unfortunate events that circulated the whole deal with James. _Oh James_, she sighed for herself while rummaging the cleaning closet for a broom. She had been so young, so naïve, how could she have known who he really was?

Arriving in the town, which wasn't exactly a metropolitan but big enough to swallow a small-town girl like herself, she had wandered around and slept in subway stations for a couple of days. Where she came from, the people were nice and would accept anyone in their home, friend or stranger. Here, no-one even seemed to notice her, even less help her out by as little as pointing out the way to the homeless shelter. Famished and dehydrated, she stumbled through the nearest open door, which happened to lead to a smoky bar filled with shady people who clearly had given up on an honest living.

The hunger in her stomach was nothing compared to the hunger in their eyes when they saw the half-dead Alice stumbling in. Fortunately for her (or unfortunately, considering how her life turned out after this), someone lay their hand around her waist and walked her to a booth in a corner, far away from the eyes of the vultures. Upon first seeing her rescuer, Alice was in awe. He was beautiful, with blonde hair and piercing ice-blue eyes, tall and muscular. He was dressed in what looked like an expensive grey suit, and she remembered wondering what he was doing in such a murky place, but when he ordered her a meal and gave her water, she stopped caring and just ate until she passed out.

She had woken up in a big airy room, lying in a bed with silk sheets, not knowing how she had gotten to where she was or with whom. A knock on the door snapped her out of the trance and the man from the bar had come in with a freshly cooked breakfast. At first she'd refused to eat, not feeling safe in these unfamiliar circumstances, but when he smiled reassuringly at her and presented himself as James, her walls had crumbled and she started eating and sharing her story up until the night before. He'd told her that he took her to his place after she'd passed out and that she could stay here in his guestroom for as long as she liked. Alice had been so grateful to this man, and the way he treated her like a princess, like no-one had ever done before, made it hard for her not to fall for him.

They were happy together for a few months, but soon the bubble burst. First came the late nights at the office, then he wouldn't come home for days, and not long after that, he'd hit her for the first time. Alice knew she had to escape but she was also fully aware that she had nowhere else to go. She had no money, no job and she knew no-one in this town except for James. Eventually, after he'd beaten her so hard she'd had to go to the hospital, she had contacted the authorities and pressed charges. Somehow, she managed to get a lousy job at a rundown café, and the owner had let her sleep in the staff room.

After working for a year, she'd scraped together enough to rent an apartment of her own. The house looked like it could fall apart any minute, the apartment she rented was small to say the least and smelly, but it was her place, something of her own, and she loved it. James was safely behind bars, serving a good ten more years, and she'd got hired as a cleaning lady.

Alice returned from her trip down memory lane when something from a shelf above her fell on her head, but after a check she realized it was only an old rag. Laughing for herself at how jittery she had become, she finally located the broom and went out of the closet to start her job. This preschool wasn't too big, she would be done with it in a couple of hours and then she could go home.

Plugging her earphones in, she chose the usual playlist on her old Walkman phone, and started sweeping the floor. She got real into it and started singing along to Muse's "Sunburn", when a sudden movement behind her caught her attention. She swiftly turned around, only to look through the window and see a man walking his dog, deep in his own thoughts and not even noticing the lit lights or her silhouette.

Alice approached the window and sighed heavily when she saw the heavy downpour outside. Autumn was really not her favorite season; everything was so cold and wet. But the worst part was the darkness. It was already getting dark when she got here about an hour ago, and now it was almost pitch-black outside. Had it not been for the street lights so conveniently placed right outside, she would have been scared to walk to the bus stop alone, but now she knew that the whole road was lit up and this calmed her. _Soon done_, she thought as she wet the mop and began washing the floor._Soon I can get out of here and go back to the hell that is apartment, my life. No_, she reprimanded herself, _no depressing thoughts now. You love your apartment, remember?_ She turned up the volume to drown out her inner voice as she continued cleaning.

With only one more room to go, she stepped into it and barely had the time to press the switch before the whole room suddenly bathed in flashing blue and red. Alice quickly walked up to the window and saw a police car right outside it. A man stepped out of the car, pulling his jacket over his head to protect him from the rain and started walking towards the entrance. Seeing as she had done nothing wrong, a very puzzled Alice pulled out her earphones and went through the hallway to the front door to meet him. He was already there, yelling and pounding at the door, trying to look in through the small window by the side.

"Ma'am is everything alright in there? Ma'am, please open the door!"

Alice ran the last few steps and opened for him. It was almost completely dark outside by now, but in the dim lights from the lamps in the hallway, Alice could see that the policeman standing in the door opening was very good looking. The rain was dripping from the jacket he held above his head, which seemed covered by blonde, shaggy hair. His face looked like something Michelangelo could have sculpted, and those eyes! She had never seen such intense green eyes before. The green eyes held much worry but also a hint of authority, the latter evident in his voice when he pulled out his badge and said, "I am deputy officer Jasper Whitlock, what is your name, ma'am?"

"I'm Alice Brandon, nice to meet you... or something... I'm the cleaning lady. So, um, why are you here? Not to be rude or anything but you know..." _Wow Alice, real smooth. Couldn't you have babbled even more and made yourself look like a complete idiot while you were at it?_

"Miss Brandon, we received some noise complaints from people walking by, saying they heard a female screaming in agony. Is everything alright?" he asked with a worried tone.

Baffled, Alice answered, "Noise complaints? But I haven't heard anyone yelling, officer. I mean, sure I had my music pretty loud but I think I should have heard if someone was 'screaming in agony'."

"So you mean to tell me that you are not currently in any form of danger nor have you been during the time you have been here?" he asked slowly, as if speaking to a child. This made Alice a bit upset, how dare he talk to her in that calm voice like she was some kind of hysterical woman in desperate need for a knight in shining armor.

"No," she answered sharply. "I haven't screamed and neither have I heard anyone scream tonight. Maybe someone heard me singing and thought a woman was being abused. Not the first time that happens, I tell you..." _Babbling again, my dear, shut your mouth and make him leave so you can get the hell out of here!_

He snickered a bit and then said "Well ma'am, if you don't have anything against it, I would prefer to check this place out by myself."

Still pissed, and getting more worked up at the thought of having to stay here longer than necessary, Alice mustered up a cocky "And why is that?"

"Well you see ma'am, I have suspicions that you might have killed the screaming woman and hid her body somewhere in here while you're cleaning up the traces."

She looked at him with her mouth hung open. Did he just... did he just imply that she was a murderer? She had just taken a big breath to tell him exactly what she thought about his manners, his great looks to hell, when she saw the big grin on his face.

"Oh you fell for that one?" he started laughing and upon hearing the sound of his laughter, all anger disappeared from Alice's mind. She actually giggled a little, not as much because the joke was funny but more as a reflex from having such a hottie joking with her.

"But seriously, we get a lot of these kinds of prank calls to places like these, teenagers daring each other to do it and so on. Have you been in the attic of this building?" he asked her. She shook her head no, which he took as a cue to go inside and closing the door after him. "But all the other rooms are empty?" After her nod, he stated that he would go and check the attic out just in case.

"Are you sure you want to leave me alone down here? You're basically giving me a chance to clean up those last blood stains..." she told him with a serious voice. This caused him to stop in the middle of a step and turn to her.

"You are absolutely right ma'am. I am afraid that you will have to go with me", he said in an equally serious tone.

"And what if I refuse?" she had waited to ask him this question because his answer would tell her if he was flirting with her or if he was just a guy with a sense of humor.

"Then I'm afraid I would have to handcuff you, miss", he answered and started reaching for the cuffs that hung from his belt. Alice quickly hid her triumphant grin behind a mask of shock.

"I'll come willingly, I swear!" she said but couldn't hold in another giggle.

"That's what they all say when I tell them that!" he said confidently. Alice rolled her eyes and started walking towards the stairs which led to the attic, swaying her hips a little bit more than she would have if the police officer had been female. But upon reaching the stairs, she suddenly stopped, an insecure look on her face.

"I don't want to go first! You're police officer here, if anyone should go first it's you!" she stated, only half joking. There was something about attics that freaked her out, she didn't know why but she'd always preferred to turn down opportunities to visit attics. He smiled reassuringly at her and pulled out a flashlight from his pocket. He pointed the beam towards the dark, crooked staircase and looked at her.

"Shall we?"


	2. Surprises

**Hi guys, I can't believe that people actually read my little story! AND YOU REVIEWED!**

**Okay I'm guessing you really don't want to hear about my brother crashing my hard drive and things like that so I'm just gonna write on his computer that I got (mohahaha) but it's a bit slow so bear with me ok?**

**For the story, since it is my first and I really don't trust myself enough to just not abandon it all and sit under my desk for the rest of my life, it will only have 3 chapters, and the last one will be shorter than the others. I already do have other stories in mind but there seems to be too little time to write them down. It's also so hard for me to write down new ideas because if the stories don't come out as I planned, I kinda get mad at myself and stop writing at all... But I will not give up!**

**Sorry for the rant my dearest readers :) here we go!**

* * *

_"Shall we?"_

Alice was absolutely terrified, but being who she was, she would rather have died than admitted she was scared. She looked at the police officer and gave him what she hoped was a confident smile.

"Ladies first," she said without letting go of his eyes with her own. Jasper raised his eyebrows slightly but didn't show any other reaction. Suddenly, Alice was blinded and something was touching her waist. She screamed at the top of her lungs and was still screaming and trying to fight off her invisible attacker when her vision came back. The flashlight, which she now realized had been directed into her face, now shone on a crouched down Jasper whose whole body was shaking with laughter. He still had his hand on her waist and she could swear she saw tears in the corners of his eyes.

"Oh for fuck's sake, what the fuck is wrong with you?!" she yelled at him in frustration and embarrassment over having been fooled yet again. When Jasper couldn't manage to choke out a coherent answer between his fits of laughter, Alice decided it was enough and pushed him lightly. The push although was enough to send him flying backwards and since he'd already taken a few steps up the stairs, he landed straight on his ass. The look of surprise and confusion on his face which was still striped with tears took Alice of guard and she immediately regretted her decision to push him. But just as she started to move towards him to apologize and help him up, his eyes widened in horror at something behind her. The flashlight had landed right between his legs and was shining on the staircase.

To avoid feeling like a stupid girl in a horror movie who turns around so painfully slow that the killer already had time to do his deed about 5 times, Alice quickly swirled in her spot and saw … absolutely nothing except from the stairs. She turned back to Jasper and already knew that the cocky grin would be plastered across his face before she even saw him. And of course, there it was. Alice stomped her foot in anger at being tricked again.

"What's got your knickers in a twist, pumpkin?" he questioned with a fake accent. In response, she just scoffed, picked up the flashlight and started moving towards the stairs.

"Alice…wait! Come on, it was just a joke…" Jasper pleaded and grabbed her hand from behind. She stopped, anticipating his next move. He walked up behind her and put both his hands on her waist. He nuzzled his nose into her neck and moved so hips lips were at her ear. Alice took a deep breath and held it in. She felt his mouth open to say something.

"Boo!"

This was the last drop for Alice. She dragged his hands of her body and turned to face him. "You arrogant fucking asshole! You know what?! I think you and your fucking jokes can get the fuck away from here before I…" But she didn't finish the sentence. Instead she heard a noise from right above her, a noise that cut through marrow and bone, a noise she instantly knew she would never be able forget. It had sounded like someone screaming but it had been too animalistic to come from a human. Alice froze and looked at Jasper. His eyes mirrored her fear and neither of them spoke. As if on a given signal, they grabbed each other's hands and slowly started backing away from the staircase. When their backs hit the wall behind them, they slid down on the floor simultaneously and took a deep breath.

"What…what the actual fuck was that?" Alice's voice trembled when she spoke.

"I have no idea... But we aren't safe here; we have to get out of here!" Jasper whispered. Another noise was heard from the attic and the couple flinched. "Like right now!" he added and they scrambled to their feet and walked out of the room and into the well lit-up hallway towards the door when Alice suddenly stopped.

"Shit! My things!" she shrieked.

"Alice, there is no time! We have to go!" he looked stressed and tried to grab her hand but Alice couldn't leave without her bag, her keys and her phone.

"No, I have to get them! You go start the car!" she shouted as she turned around and started running towards the classroom where she had left her things. Jasper stood still and looked after her before going to the front door at a slow pace. Alice came running back with her bag in one hand and coat in the other and saw him standing by the door with slumped shoulders.

"What is it? Why aren't you in the car?" she asked. He looked at her and said the last words she wanted to hear at this moment:

"The door is locked."

"What?"

"The door must have deadlocked. We're trapped…" he said with a dead voice. Alice sunk down where she was standing, put her head between her knees and started hyperventilating.

"This isn't happening. This is not fucking happening. Oh my God I'm going to die, fuck, fuck, fuck," she started chanting for herself. Jasper kneeled down in front of her.

"Baby, don't worry, we'll figure it out. Let's go into one of the classrooms and lock the door behind us and call the police," he said, trying to calm her.

Alice nodded and they quickly walked back to the first classroom, locked the door behind them and sunk down against it, in case the something that was up in the attic would try to come in.

In the sharp light and closeness of their bodies, Alice could see every detail of his face, every individual eyelash. Him calling her 'baby' warmed her up from inside and took away some of the fear. As she let her eyes travel down his face to his lips, she saw something rusty-red on the side of his cheek.

"Is that... blood on your face?" she asked in shock.

He quickly lifted his hand to his face and laughed. "Well yes, I must have cut myself when I shaved this morning..."

"Oh good, I thought I hurt you when I pushed you," Alice answered with a nervous giggle.

"Nah darlin', you would never be able to hurt me," he laughed some more and nudged her side.

They sat in silence for a couple of minutes when Alice suddenly stood up. "Oh God I'm such an idiot!" she exclaimed. "I have my phone right here! We have to call someone who can come and let us out!"

She ran over to the table where she had left her purse and turned her back to Jasper. She started rummaging through it, eager to find the source of their salvation. Suddenly, the lights in the room went out. Alice finally got hold of her cell phone and lit up the screen to get some light in the now charcoal- black room.

"I don't think we should leave right now Alice. We can stay here. In fact, I think we will stay here for as long as I want to stay here," Jasper said in a dark voice which held none of the previous warmth and mischief that it had had previously.

At first, Alice couldn't really grasp what she had heard. Was he playing a joke on her again?

"Jasper, cut it out, I'm tired of your jokes. Put the light back on please," she said, but her voice was trembling.

"Listen up darlin'," he said with the same grim voice, "you are going to do exactly as I tell you. And I'm telling you to get over here so we will have a good time together. And then, I will have a good time when disposing of your body somewhere in the woods."

Alice barely heard the last words he said because of the rush of blood to her head. The light of the phone screen faded and went out. She could almost hear her heart beat, faster and faster, as if it wanted to jump out of her chest and run away. Her whole body wanted to run away but she instinctively knew that if she were to make it out of here alive, she would have to be as quiet as she possibly could.

"Come on pumpkin, I know you're here. Come here. I won't hurt you, not yet at least!" he said from somewhere in the darkness with a low and calm voice. Alice

She could hear Jasper moving around somewhere near her and shone the screen of her phone around the room to see where he was. Before she had time to realize that her actions would give away her position, something next to her gleamed and on pure instinct she jumped back, avoiding the object with mere inches. She started running, in the darkness running into tables and falling down, crawling in under a table and holding her breath.

"Seriously? I thought you were smarter than that, little Alice. But apparently I was wrong..." he taunted her from the blackness, his voice coming closer. Alice knew where the door was and she could hear that he was moving away from it. She took her chance, quietly stood up and snuck around some tables to get to her destination. She realized that when she opened the door, the light from the hallway would show him where she was, so she only had a few seconds to get as far away from him as she could. She took a deep breath, and swung the door open.


End file.
